Differently-abled IIT-M scholar’s speech moves audience at international conference

A quadriplegic with a 90 per cent disability, Srinivasan is also the first disabled woman to seek admission into the PhD programme at IITs in 2019. 

TIRUVANNAMALAI: Preethi Srinivasan, a PhD student of IIT-Madras, recently shone at an international conference hosted by Liverpool Hope University in the United Kingdom, where she presented her research paper.

A quadriplegic with a 90 per cent disability, Srinivasan is also the first disabled woman to seek admission into the PhD programme at IITs in 2019. 

Srinivasan’s speech at the UK conference left many attendees emotional. A senior professor said, “I wish all my students could have heard you speak. Nonetheless, I have taken extensive notes, and your ground-breaking work will be shared with students worldwide.”

Srinivasan is also the founder of Soulfree, an NGO that works towards empowering persons facing a lifetime of paralysis due to spinal cord injury. The Soulfree INSPIRE Centre is India’s first Integrated Spinal Rehabilitation Centre, which provides holistic and individualised rehabilitation based on a uniquely experiential framework.

The centre aims to optimise self-reliance from a physical, psychological and socio-economic perspective. It provides international standards of care free-of-cost to those living below the poverty line in Tiruvannamalai district.

Article Credits: New Indian Express