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Whiz kid Sayed Hussain Sayed Anwar creates, shoots and edits technology videos for his 5,000-subscriber strong YouTube channel. A gifted student with more than a 99 per cent average at school, there is just one caveat – he happens to be blind.
The 15-year-old creates educational, gaming and tech review videos for his subscriber base on YouTube, most of whom do not know about his blindness. In his videos, he shows off his impressive skills in online game PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds (PUBG), decodes the complexities of Apple devices and highlights accessibility features particularly relevant to the differently-abled.
Sayed is completely blind in his right eye and almost completely blind in the other eye, relying on magnification features and voice commands to utilise his devices.
In an interview with GulfWeekly, Sayed said: “I started my channel about three years ago and taught myself all the skills needed to create videos. I do most of the work myself but sometimes, my sisters, Mariam and Bayan, help me out.
“I do not discuss my blindness on my channel because I don’t want to be seen as just that. I can see a very little bit with my left eye and use the accessibility features on my iPhone and iPad to be able to work and play.”
Sayed’s best-performing video has been viewed more than 110,000 times on YouTube. His most popular videos decode hidden and unknown features on Apple devices and Sayed sets himself apart by making videos almost exclusively in Arabic, providing a valuable technology resource for Apple users in the region.
At first, he appears to be a regular teen who loves going to the beach, tinkering with electronics and hanging out with his friends. But once he gets on his phone, his skills seem unsurpassable as he navigates screens, designs videos and even plays games, relying more on his intuition and haptic feedback than visual cues.
Often, when leaving the home, he needs to rely on aid from his parents to navigate, though he knows his home like the back of his iPhone, er, hand.
“Since I was very young, phones and technology were incredibly fascinating to me, perhaps because they were the shiniest thing I could see,” said the talented teenager who studies at the Imam Al Ghazali Intermediate School, “Then, as I grew older, I relied on them more and more to be able to interact with the world around me.
“After watching videos online, three years ago, I decided to create my own channel. Nowadays, it takes me four to seven hours to create a video. I recently designed an animated intro for my videos, which took me a month to perfect.”
Sayed is also one of the brightest students in his class, achieving a 99.4pc average in his last academic year. Maths is his favourite subject and his favourite teacher is his mother.
His mum Sameera is a nurse who, after years of juggling her job, household responsibilities and managing her three children, two of whom have special needs, retired to focus on her children.
Sayed explained: “Both my mother and father have been very supportive. My mother helped me and my sister with our school work, always pushing us to not let our flaws define us, while my father always provided anything that we needed to succeed.”
Sayed’s father, Sayed Anwar, added: “It is a boon to have the technology and support we have now. Sayed is able to do his school work and write his exams using his iPad, with support from the Saudi-Bahrain Institute for the Blind. Even though he struggled in his childhood to fit in, now he has become much more confident.
“He recently told one of his online gaming friends, Malik, from Palestine, that he is blind. After some initial disbelief, Malik has become one of his top fans, being the first to comment on nearly all of his videos.”
Sayed was recently honoured by the Minister of Education, Dr Majid Al Nuaimi, who recommended that he be admitted to the ministry’s Gifted Students Care Centre.
As for the future, Sayed, wants to study computer science and develop his coding skills, despite being told that these higher education options would not be available for him. But his resolve is strong, and the fact that he is already earning revenue from his channel and learning more every day with the help of his YouTube peers, should open eyes to his potential.
Follow @saydoon55 on Instagram or scan the QR code to check out Sayed’s YouTube channel.
