HR4RS stamp
Alberto Sanchez Lozano
Sandra Timón needs help from a cochlear implant in her left ear and a hearing aid in her right. At the age of 4 she began to manifest Wolfram Syndrome, for which she began to progressively lose her vision and of which her parents were carriers without knowing it, and at 12 years of age she was already considered a person with deafblindness. At the age of 15, she was already wearing hearing aids and she also began to lose her hearing progressively until she had a cochlear implant placed in her left ear last winter, at the age of 24. All this has not prevented him from achieving the best academic record in the Software Engineering career and the Extraordinary End-of-Career Award from the URJC.
Sandra's life, from a very early age, has been one of overcoming obstacles and overcoming difficulties. Now, the Software Engineering graduate has found an opportunity to develop her professional career with her hiring in January by Microsoft Spain, and she has recently been awarded the National Youth Award in the category of 'Social Commitment' . This fact has had its repercussions in the media, and has given the former URJC student a great opportunity to show people that there is no insurmountable obstacle.
"The loss of vision and hearing has been progressive. I have stopped doing things as normal as reading a newspaper or sitting down to watch a movie. I need technology to do those things that are so normal", this is how he has described his current relationship with technology and science Sandra Timón. She although she admits that it was something that she was not attracted to at first.
"I did not understand myself with computers, but talking to a professional from ONCE convinced me to leave the idea of mathematics, which I am passionate about, and look for a much easier way for me to be able to work and be able to lead my professional career. I thought that computer science is booming and is found in many sectors, I discovered that I like programming, I knew that I wanted a career in science and over time I have realized that I love programming, now I don't consider it a job anymore. It's more a hobby than a job for me", the graduate continued to reflect.
Timón has recently been awarded the National Youth Award in the category of 'Social Commitment' from the Spanish Youth Institute. An award that has served as personal recognition of her career. Hiring her by Microsoft Spain has been a milestone for the company, as she is the first person with deafblindness in Spain to join the American software multinational.
Best academic record in your degree
The deafblindness suffered by the URJC Software Engineering graduate is not well known. She has even found sign language interpreters who were unaware of the existence of deafblind people before joining their profession. That has not been an impediment for her to have managed to overcome the obstacles that life has put in her way and manage to be the best academic record in her degree, with an average grade of 9,07 after finishing last year. Accompanied by a mediator from the ONCE Foundation for Attention to People with Deafblindness (FOAPS) who helped her follow the class and repeat what she was not able to hear well, the graduate managed to overcome the challenge subject by subject.
Because the reality is that Sandra Timón's goal was not only to get her career, it was (and still is) to show the world that there is no insurmountable difficulty. "She has been a brilliant and hard-working student who frequently went to tutorials until she resolved all the doubts she had. She always kept the subjects up to date, which is why she represents the ideal of student work", recalled José Manuel Colmenar, director of the degree of Software Engineering of the URJC.
"I know that her classmates have attended her in tutorials that, in general, lasted longer than the average with other students. As for the classes, the teachers have adapted to the requests that Sandra made to them about the technical part with the use of modulated frequency In addition, the URJC Disability Care Unit is always aware of any of the cases that arise, and collaborates with both students and teachers to facilitate the passage through the University of people with disabilities", added the coordinator of the degree.
The computer together with a braille line to be able to work and her mediator have been inseparable companions on this trip to the university for Sandra Timón, in which she has managed to be the best academic record of her degree and the Extraordinary End of Degree Award. "I had to do everything on the computer. Take notes, study, even take the exams themselves... Without being able to see, and with difficulty hearing, I need the computer and programs with voice commands to be able to study," Timón pointed out.
With the help of a frequency modulated device (a device consisting of two devices: a transmitter with a small microphone that the teacher wore near the neck of his garment, and a receiver that Sandra wore, which allowed her to hear the voice of the teacher as if it were coming out of his hearing aids), which makes the signal reach the cochlear implants that he wears as if he were listening to the class through headphones, and of the dactylological (it allows deafblind people to have a conversation with a mediator representing the letters of the alphabet in the palm of the hand), a device that the mediator used when Sandra did not understand something. The fingerprint also helped him to know what had been said in class in a silent way and that it did not alter much the development of the classes.
"My intention was to follow the class and interact like the others. That is why I wanted a mediator instead of the rest of the alternatives that were offered to me, such as the note-taker, who was a student who was offered ECTS credits in exchange for taking the notes from a colleague with disabilities. I have deafblindness and the problem is quite complex than the sum of the difficulties of a blind person and a deaf person, since the limitations caused by blindness and deafness simultaneously are greater than suffering them separately" , has opined the software engineer.
And it is that Sandra Timón has gone through moments that have been specific problems during the degree. "I remember there were teachers who spoke very fast and tried to control it, but they couldn't, teachers who have shown me empathy. Many have been willing to help me, although sometimes I have missed more help from some teachers, and more awareness of the problem", Timón has analysed.
New projects
Now that she has been working at Microsoft Spain since January, the graduate wants to develop programs that help people in her situation to make their lives easier. "A person who does not see and who does not hear is very limited when it comes to communicating and moving through wide spaces or where there is a lot of noise", she has assured. “We carry a red and white cane, which indicates that we are deafblind. We need a lot of touch to be able to move and communicate. blind colleagues also had trouble moving because in wide spaces they did not have tactile references to know where they were walking", explained the engineer.
"The ideal is that, as far as possible, we can be the most autonomous people possible to make our own lives easier and more bearable, and not be dependent on others," Timón suggested. And it is that the problems and challenges overcome have given him perspective to face the future and his new projects. "Now I don't have time between work and the gym for them, and I need more training and more preparation to carry them out. I want to do the Master in Artificial Intelligence", commented Sandra Timón.
And it is that his time at the URJC and the Software Engineering degree have left their mark. "It is pleasantly satisfying to see how ETSII students access all kinds of companies, but especially those whose selection processes are more demanding. It is further proof of the quality of the training provided at the School. The particular case de Sandra is even more satisfying since she has been able to finish the race with the best results, being able to overcome the obstacles that could come her way due to her disability", stated José Manuel Colmenar.
"I need new knowledge to be able to develop my ideas and accessibility projects. Now that there are programs that work through voice commands, the field of research and development is very broad for people who need these aids for our daily lives", Sandra Timón has concluded about her projects, which in the end are summarized in her most important project. Enjoy the life you are building.
