Bravo 曾芷君

Bravo 曾芷君




7月 16日 接受雷霆 881 訪談



【有線新聞】在文憑試中奪得三科5**的失明弱聽女學生曾芷君表示，她的成長過程，快樂時光多不勝數，父母多年來都教導她在平淡生活中尋求意義，要知足常樂。

一日前的八、九時，曾芷君剛剛拿到成績單，一日之間成了新聞人物，上電台做嘉賓。別人眼中她有很多不幸，她自己卻反倒感恩。她在心光讀到中一，然後轉到英華，由中一重新讀起，可說是融合教育的成功例子，但她認為特殊學校是很必要，不可縮班殺校。

陪她一起上電台的是英華班主任，她指與爸爸媽媽早慶祝了。最後接通和她傾談的是一位十年前的會考狀元。 （有線撮要片段）


不同新聞機構撮要的片段不同 。。。。



【新浪 Now 寬頻】自幼失明及弱聽，要靠嘴唇摸字讀書的曾芷君，在文憑試奪得三科5**。她多謝父母教導要勇敢嘗試以及知足常樂，希望自己的經歷能夠鼓勵更多人。

雖然身體有殘障，芷君堅持在常規學校學習，和普通學生一同接受公開試的挑戰。父母教導對她同樣重要，他們曾擔心芷君接受聆聽考試會影響成績，但都主張她積極面對，學習克服困難，亦教她要知足常樂。

芷君又說，最開心能夠入讀英華女校，因為入讀一間好的常規學校並不容易，她明白將來就業面對的挑戰會更大，會更加努力。她希望在大學修讀翻譯，將來貢獻社會。 （新浪 Now寬頻撮要片段）



不想多說多寫有沒有被抽水，仍然高呼：Bravo 曾芷君！




後記：
【CNN】Tsang Tsz-Kwan may look like an average student in Hong Kong with her standard-issue blue shift dress with a Chinese collar and sensible black shoes. But her ordinary appearance and shy manner mask a steely determination to triumph over tremendous odds.






She recently scored within the top 5% for nearly all her subjects in the city's college entrance examination -- despite being blind and severely hearing-impaired from a young age. She also lacks sensitivity in her fingertips, which denies her the ability to feel the raised dots of Braille characters.

Rather than admit defeat, the 20 year old found an alternative way to read Braille -- with her lips. "In Primary 1 (the equivalent of Grade 1 in the United States), I noticed that she was always leaning forward," said Mee-Lin Chiu, a teacher at the Ebenezer School & Home for the Visually Impaired -- the only special needs school in Hong Kong dedicated to the blind.


"She told me it was because she could read more clearly with her lips than her hands." Tsang herself admitted: "I know it's not a common approach and it sounds rather strange.


Even I myself don't know how it came about," she added, calling it "miraculous." In actual fact, the lips, tongue, and fingertips are particularly adept at spatial discrimination — they can perceive two points that are only 1-3 millimeters apart, according to the classic anatomy text, Field's Anatomy, Palpation and Surface Markings.


In comparison, the legs or back of the hands can only detect two points with a separation of more than 50-100 millimeters. While Tsang may not be the very first person to resort to lip-reading Braille, she appears to be a rare case.


"This is the first I have heard of someone being successful using the lips," said Diane Wormsely, a professor at North Carolina Central University who specializes in education for the visually impaired. Chiu also said that Tsang was the only student at Ebenezer to have used their lips -- and is the sole case she is aware of in Hong Kong.


Lip-reading Braille is not without its challenges, however. "Nobody could accept it in the beginning," Tsang said. "Even now, many people find it odd ... It's caused some embarrassment when I read in public places and in front of people that I don't have a close relationship with." It also poses practical problems, as Braille books are typically large and heavy.


Nonetheless, Tsang said she is "grateful" to still have a way to learn about the world through the written word. Reading is one of her favorite past times -- a source of intellectual stimulation and psychological refuge.


She also believes she can transcend her disabilities through hard work, determination, and the willingness to push herself outside of her comfort zone. "Without the courage to challenge myself, there is surely no possibility of success," she said.


At Ebenezer, her classes were comprised of only ten students, whose shared disability enabled them to easily build close friendships. All materials were prepared in Braille and teachers were specially trained to work with the blind. But in Form 1 (the equivalent of Grade 7 in the United States), Tsang decided to leave the comfort of Ebenezer and move to a regular secondary school, wanting to immerse herself in a more authentic, mainstream environment.


"I have to facilitate my adaptation to society when I finish my studies and have to enter the workplace," she said. Her transition to the city's Ying Wa Girls' School was not always easy.


Classes were much larger and teachers did not have specialized training to work with blind students. Tsang had to send all printed materials to Ebenezer or the Hong Kong Society for the Blind for transcription into Braille.


Reading and writing took her twice the amount of time it did for her peers, she said. She learned she had to be more independent and make a greater effort to express her feelings and needs with staff and students, who were welcoming but unaccustomed to dealing with a blind person.


One of her teachers, Kwong Ho-Ka, said that staff learned over time when to intervene to help her. "If she needs something, she will let us know," Kwong said, adding that her fiercely independent student walked around the school campus unassisted, eschewing a walking stick and elevators and taking the stairs by herself.


Kwong, who clearly holds deep affection for her student, said that while Tsang was never bullied, social integration has been a gradual process. "She has friends, but she's not part of some big group.


For example, a gaggle of girls may be chatting about pop culture, but it can be difficult for her to enter the conversation. She may not recognize who is speaking in overlapping conversations and she lacks familiarity with pop culture."


Attending class with the same cohort of students over the past three years has helped a lot, Kwong said, and students have learned to make an effort to include Tsang in conversations. Tsang said that she has made close friends.


"I am grateful for their acceptance of me as a normal member of their social circle and throughout these years, they have given me a great deal of support and encouragement." While her academic feats -- she scored 5**, the highest possible grade, for Chinese, English, and Liberal Studies, 5* for Chinese Literature and English Literature and 4 for Math — have won her much acclaim in Hong Kong, Tsang admits that she surprised herself.


"I was really astonished and excited when I heard that my results in some of the subjects were far from my expectations," she said. "I felt my hard work this year has finally paid off." She hopes to study translation at university starting this fall to have a "balanced development in both Chinese and English."


"Whenever I come across some thought-provoking and touching books, I really wish I could translate them into different languages so as to share them with more readers," she added.


As she embarks on the new phase of her hard-won education, Tsang maintains matter-of-fact and philosophical.


"The inconveniences and limitations (my impairments) bring will follow me my whole life ...and I must have the courage to face the facts...I'm going to treasure what I still have."


"I would like to encourage everyone to have the courage and perseverance to go through all the ups and downs in our lives because I know everyone has their own difficulties. But one thing is for sure: where there's a will, there's a way."


後後記：
【明報專訊】失明、弱聽及有觸感障礙的應屆文憑試考生曾芷君，昨如願獲中文大學翻譯系取錄，她對此感到很開心，並承諾繼續努力讀書。原來各資助副學位及學士課程，在 2012學年共取錄了逾 100名有特殊教育需要的學生，佔一年級生 0.02%，最多是聽障及視障學生。


資助大專去年收逾百殘障生 大學聯招（JUPAS）8月 9日才放榜，殘障學生則提早於昨天放榜，芷君昨透過母校英華女學校表示，昨晨接獲中大翻譯系的取錄通知，即獲派首志願，芷君及家人都感到很高興，但由於她想安靜展開大學生活，故婉拒傳媒訪問。中大表示，一直為殘障學生提供生活及學習支援，如設復康巴士、為弱聽及失明學生特別訂造器材等，並提供個人發展及就業輔導服務。




伸延閱覽：
曾芷君指政府不可忽視特殊教育 有線新聞
曾芷君冀經歷可鼓勵他人 新浪 Now 寬頻
Story of Tsang zikwan：Blind student learns to read Braille with lips CNN
唇讀芷君獲中大翻譯系取錄 新浪新聞網
曾芷君 谷歌搜尋