Seeing university differently

Legally blind UCT student Sinegugu Silara shares how she has found her own ways to navigate campus, learning, friendship and Para Sport – while challenging what people think disability looks like.

Second-year UCT student Sinegugu “Gugu” Silara studies Media & Writing and Sociology while navigating university as a legally blind student. Silara takes us through the rhythms of her day: lectures, long stretches on campus, goalball practice. She shares openly about assistive technology, accessible study materials, and the practical work of finding her way around campus and asking for help when she needs it.

Silara also pushes back on the assumptions people make about disability and Para Sport, including the idea that Para Sport is easier simply because it is adapted. Her message is simple: disabled people are people first. Don't baby them, don't underestimate them, and if they need help, they'll ask. She calls for a more everyday understanding of disability, one that starts with treating disabled people as people, not as symbols or exceptions.

#UCT #DisabilityInclusion #ParaSport #Accessibility #StudentLife #DayInTheLife