Sichuan visually-impaired twins get university admissions

A pair of twin sisters with visual impairment in China’s southwestern Sichuan province was recently admitted in university.

The two young girls, Mei Xiaoqian and Mei Xiaoying, lost their father at a very young age, leaving their mother alone to raise them and their two older sisters. Xiaoying had eye problems in 6th grade, resulting in drastic loss of vision. The same problem happened to Xiaoqian about a year later, and the two of them had no choice but to leave school for some time.

Half a year later, their older sister bought them magnifying glasses. It enabled the twins to return to school and study with the aid of the magnifying glasses. The difference soon became clear – they were amongst students with outstanding results.

Thanks to Hu Yiru, an employee with the local educational department, the twins were accepted by a special education center in Chongqing municipality after graduating from middle school. The man offered the girls typoscopes, thereby enabling them to read books in upright position.

Because Xiaoying and Xiaoqian continued to work hard, they were recently admitted respectively in colleges in Binzhou and Changchun, majoring in acupuncture and massage.