There are no limits to what anyone can accomplish; only the restrictions we place on our own thinking. When faced with challenges, the human spirit can be the drive and motivation to achieve the impossible no matter how improbable the situation.

The Academia Group recently met the truly inspirational Lizzy Bull, a 14-year-old student at the de Ferrers Academy who is studying like any other year ten pupil for her forthcoming GCSE’s. Unlike other students, however, Lizzy has overcome severe challenges with the help of modern technology.

Living with Glaucoma and Cataracts, Lizzy has a genetic condition called Neurofibromatosis, leading to low vision and impairment to her reading skills. This condition, however, has not stopped Lizzy.

Thanks to the accessibility features of the iPad Pro, Lizzy has been able to push aside any education barriers and keep a good pace with her learning and functionality at a large comprehensive school with her fellow pupils. The powerful assistive features built into the iPad to complement vision, hearing, motor skills, learning and literacy have enabled Lizzy to maintain a steady stream of immersive learning.

Miranda Chadfield, The Communication Support Worker and Apple Teacher who has worked with Lizzy since she was 3 years old, noted: “The iPad has helped Lizzy keep a good pace in her learning experience, replacing countless paper led content and heavy laptops that were not suitable for her needs”.

One of the supervision applications that Lizzy uses is the Magnifier App, SuperVision+, that offers a supreme live image stabilisation capability. Highly magnified images are usually shaking and can be a problem for many visually impaired people, but SuperVision+ eliminates such issues.

Lizzy is also grateful to the Brailliant display board from HumanWare, a supportive sensory keyboard with the full comfort and intuitive display navigation of HumanWare’s signature thumb keys. This new generation of Brailliant braille displays features sharp and crisp braille cell technology that users like Lizzy have praised.

Greg Hughes, Vice Principal at The de Ferrers Academy, told us “The great thing for Lizzy is the way the iPad and all its features have taken away any potential limitations. The iPad has made sure that Lizzy can get on like any other student at the academy”.

The de Ferrers Academy is a secondary Apple Distinguished school with academy status located in Burton upon Trent that operates as a specialist technology college and an authorised Apple Regional Training Centre (RTC). You can learn more about the Academy here: https://www.deferrers.com/

Entirely self-taught thanks to the iPad and its accessibility features, Lizzy is a true inspiration to all those around her. The Academia Family are so proud of her progress and the support we have given the de Ferrers Academy over the years.

To learn more about our Apple support programs or to learn more about our work with Schools and Academies, please speak to one of the team today on info@oldsite.academia.co.uk or call 01992 703 900.

To learn more about Lizzy’s Story, please contact the press team on pr@oldsite.academia.co.uk