What I wish people knew about being partially sighted

I have Nystagmus – an eye condition which makes my eyes constantly move involuntarily from side to side. It basically means that I can’t focus on anything and I am registered as partially sighted. While the condition does hinder me in everyday life, the more constant struggle is to overcome people’s ignorance about the less noticeable disabilities.

Just because my disability isn’t immediately visible, it doesn’t mean I’m making it up

“You don’t look like you have a disability”, I’m repeatedly told. Granted, it is somewhat noticeable if you happen to have an extended conversation with me but, on first glance, I suppose I look “normal”. This doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist and it doesn’t mean that any problems I may have should be ignored. I’m not allowed to drive, ever. Because of this, I get a free pass on buses and trains. So many people that I know seem to think this makes me “lucky” and some even appear a bit jealous and hostile towards me. Sometimes people just tell you how fab driving is and how much you’re missing out on.

The word “disability” is not synonymous with “people who use wheelchairs”. I recently went on a flight and requested special assistance to get help on the flight. The woman showed up to collect me and was shocked when I stood up to greet her. After this, she had no idea what she could do to help me.

One the same flight, the cabin steward approached me with: “You requested special assistance, right? Well, you don’t look like you’re blind”. When I explained to him that I wasn’t and that I was partially sighted, he just walked away from me.

Society is so narrow-minded when it comes to this – if it isn’t staring you in the face then it isn’t even a thing.

Ok so tell me again how much you love driving *prepares jumping spinning crescent kick*

Wearing glasses doesn’t fix it

At the moment, there is no cure for Nystagmus so I just have to live with it. I wear glasses because I am short-sighted as well but people seem to think that this corrects my Nystagmus too. I explain to people that I can’t drive because my eyesight isn’t good enough and they reply with “but you wear glasses so you should have 20/20 vision”. Nothing I can say after that seems to get through to these self-proclaimed doctors.

I am not socially inept

Being visually impaired doesn’t mean that I don’t know how to make friends. People seem to think that nobody will like me or that I’ll get bullied. All of the disability workers that I have ever had meetings with have assumed that I have no friends and that I’m socially awkward and take it upon themselves to try to put me in situations where I am forced to talk to people. I’m the type of person that does this anyway and generally I’m quite extroverted – there’s no reason why being partially sighted would get in the way of that.

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‘You’re doing well for someone with a visual impairment’

Dude, I don’t need this kind of negativity in my life. I absolutely hate this because it just mitigates the value of any achievement I have ever had. I work so so hard at everything I do and I’d like to think that I am doing well in general, regardless of any impairments.

Asking for help doesn’t make me weak

Sometimes I need to ask for help in public to read signs or read a menu. Most of the time, people are happy to help but you do get the odd person that gives you the death stare. I get extra time for exams and the University employs people to help me with studying and planning. I went 15 years without anybody, bar my parents, being aware that I had Nystagmus and it was awful. I was always too proud to ever admit I needed help, but life is so much easier now that people are more aware and understanding.

It doesn’t stop me from doing things

I’m not incompetent. At school, I got told that I should never take geography because the maps are small and that I should never do graphics because it’s too intricate. When people tell me I can’t do something because of my disability then it makes me even more determined to succeed. I took both of these subjects and just requested larger maps and larger drawings and guess what? I got an A in them both.

I was also advised against taking a Law degree because I wasn’t smart enough and wouldn’t be able to cope with the reading. Studying Law is all I have ever wanted to do so I decided to apply anyway and managed to get an unconditional offer to the best uni for Law in the country.

Cheese warning…”ain’t no mountain high enough”

All of this just emphasises how much I hate the word “disability”. Of course, I agree that being disabled exists but I do believe that it’s more of a mindset than anything else. I’m half way through a Law degree studying in Norway for an Erasmus year, I am a black belt in martial arts, I play the bagpipes and I’ve climbed Kilimanjaro – so everyone that didn’t believe in me can suck it.