TWO Derby students are celebrating after picking up prestigious Duke of Edinburgh awards despite being profoundly deaf.
Teenagers Wasif Yousif and Adarsha Sunwar, who are pupils at Royal School for the Deaf Derby, in Ashbourne Road, have defied their disabilities to gain their silver awards.
It is notoriously challenging to take part in the scheme and no allowance is made for the fact that the school’s entrants are all profoundly deaf.
Adarsha Sunwar, a pupil at Royal School for the Deaf Derby, showing off his well-earned Duke of Edinburgh Award.
The award helps students to build upon their communication, commitment, leadership and teamwork skills and make a difference to other people’s lives and the community with the volunteering section.
Read more: Derby’s Royal School for the Deaf calls for a wider use of transparent face masks.
The hardest part to complete was the three-day walking expedition, which they were able to carry out before lockdown, planning their own route and giving a presentation to fellow pupils in British Sign Language afterwards.
Fellow pupil Wasif Yousif is immensely proud of his fantastic achievement.
Transition support communicator at the school, Steve Ryan, said: “The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme is a genuine challenge for any young person, without factoring in a hearing impairment, and we are hugely proud of any of our students who complete a section.
“As part of their preparation the boys learned map skills and route planning, basic first aid, they practised putting up tents and also did some cooking in our enrichment time.
“We also do a practice expedition so they know what to expect on the assessed one. We go with them and support them, but at a distance. They had to do all the map reading; if they get lost, we monitor them and only help if needed.
“They had to really look around for landmarks to match what’s on the map as obviously they couldn’t hear things like the road traffic or the river to know they were there. And they wouldn’t be able to communicate with passers-by to ask for help.
“They both worked so hard and were determined to finish, so we are really proud of them. It’s helped with their confidence and given them life skills.”
Read more: Students from Royal School for Deaf encourage deaf community to remember holocaust.
All students in the post-16 department at Royal School for the Deaf Derby are encouraged to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, alongside their core qualifications and college courses.
To gain the award both students gave up their free time to volunteer in the school’s primary department and they passed their driving theory tests as part of the skill section.
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