24-year-old Manik Reddy was born blind in Buldhana district of Karnataka. As daily wage laborers, his parents knew little about raising a child with blindness. Manik was spotted in a survey conducted by a local special school, after which his family were encouraged to enroll him.

He studied in the special school for the blind till Class X. But lacking proper guidance, he had to sit idle at home despite his desire to study further. A few years later he heard about the Eyeway Helpdesk from a friend and decided to call. Manik inquired about higher education opportunities, ways of becoming financially independent and so on.
Emphasizing on the importance of higher studies, the counselor apprised Manik of various professions a blind person could pursue, with the appropriate skills and qualifications. Encouraged by Eyeway, Manik signed up for Class XII via distance learning and cleared his exams scoring 76%.
Having taken the first step towards independent living, he is now focused on preparing for competitive exams, clearing which will make him eligible for various government jobs. However, had it not been for lack of financial resources, Manik would prefer to complete graduation and try for post-graduation.
Alongside his academic and job pursuits, the counselor recommended learning to use computers with the help of screen reading software. This will not only enable him to read and write independently but also make him job-ready in the digital economy.
If you would like to support Manik’s education dreams, you can visit the following link to contribute.
https://scorefoundation.org.in/get-involved/