Elena Gutierrez: "I am the first physiotherapist with visual impairment that graduates in the UAB"

03/02/2022

Elena Gutierrez is 30 years old and has recently graduated as a physiotherapist in the Universidad Autònoma de Barcelona. In this Video Interview carried out by the Autonomous Solidarity Foundation (FAS), she tells us her experience at the university and how is her life now after graduating and finally practising her profession.  

Elena decided to study physiotherapy because she always had a special sensitivity and wanted to help dependent people. What is more, even though she could study in the school of physiotherapy of the ONCE Foundation in Madrid, she decided to study in the UAB because she thinks this university has a great compromise with inclusion. 

Through the degree, Elena recognises the support of the PIUNE and of the teachers that have always been on her side when it came to adapt exams and other different activities to her necessities. She also highlights that she could carry the internship out just like any other student and was able to go through all the different environments of physiotherapy. This helped her to decide in which area she felt more comfortable. 

Once she finished her degree, Elena received a scholarship from the UAB and the ONCE Foundation to carry out a working internship at the Center for Child Development and Early Care (CDIAP) in Barcelona. Nowadays, she works as a physiotherapist in a nursing home and combines this with a complementary education. 

Finally, Elena sends a message to future students with special needs and cheers them up to go to university and, as she preaches, “nothing is impossible if there is persistence and effort”.

You can watch the complete interview here.