Lucknow Teen Scores 98.75% Despite Being Deaf and Blind

When Sarah Moin woke up on results day in May, she couldn't hear the celebrations or see the numbers on the screen, but her braille display told her everything she needed to know: 98.75%, first in her class.

The 19-year-old from Lucknow navigates every single day without sight, hearing, or speech. She also manages sarcoidosis, a rare inflammatory condition that affects multiple organs throughout her body.

Yet when her ISC Class 12 exam results came in, she had earned perfect hundreds in Geography and Mass Media Communication. Her other subjects? 98 in English, 97 in History, and 96 in Psychology.

This wasn't luck or a one-time achievement. Sarah scored 94% in her Class 10 exams, building a pattern of excellence that speaks to years of discipline and determination.

At Christ Church College in Lucknow, Principal Rakesh Chattree and special educator Salman Ali Qazi redesigned how Sarah learns. They equipped her with a braille display and Orbit Reader that convert digital content into tactile formats she can read with her fingertips.

At home, Sarah uses similar assistive technology to study independently, touching words and ideas that most students simply glance at. Her education isn't about limitations but about finding every possible path to knowledge.

Her teachers have nicknamed her Helen Keller, after the famous American author and disability rights advocate. Sarah accepts the comparison, but she has her own identity and her own ambitions.

Why This Inspires

Sarah wants to become an Indian Administrative Service officer. Her father, Moin Ahmad Idrisi, explains that she doesn't just want personal success but plans to work specifically for disabled children who face the same barriers she has overcome.

That vision transforms her achievement from an individual triumph into something larger. She's already thinking about the systems that need changing and the young people who deserve better access.

Her father is now advocating for examination bodies to allow deaf-blind candidates to use assistive devices like laptops and braille displays during competitive exams. Current systems rely on scribes, which were designed for different disabilities and don't fully capture what students like Sarah can express independently.

Sarah's success exposes a gap in India's examination system. If someone with her intelligence and preparation still finds tests inaccessible, thousands of others may be quietly excluded from opportunities they've earned.

But Sarah isn't waiting for systems to catch up. She's already equipped with technology, determination, and a clear purpose that goes beyond any test score.

She's proving that the biggest barriers aren't inside people with disabilities but in the world around them, and she's decided to change that world from the inside.