Latest Update
As I near the age of 17, the thought of not being
able to drive begins to overcome the idea that I may be capable of
passing a driving test successfully. The realisation of the fact
that I cannot read a car registration plate from more than 10 metres
away only acts to confirm my childhood fears of not being able to
drive; yet another difference to stand between myself and the
majority of the human population. In my opinion most people take
driving for granted, well, not everyone can drive! I imagine it must
be difficult for those who cannot drive; they must use alternative
forms of transport; walking, cycling, or by bus, taxi or train. Of
course buses and trains are not very well known for their
punctuality, are they? And, the others are more expensive.
Transportation must obviously be considered when applying for a job
and it is probably likely to mean that in most cases people will
have to move house when getting another job? Money maybe lost on
things such as removal fees and stamp duty. Just a few thoughts at
this early stage of my life.
If you would like to discuss your thoughts of the
ability to drive with nystagmus, please post them on our forums here
at nystagmus.co.uk. Click on the link below if you wish to visit the
forums or the driving category in particular.
Forums
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Please Note
Firstly I have posted these updates of my experiences
as and when they happen, therefore some updates that you read may be
old, but they obviously still apply as they are my experiences as a
sufferer.
These updates are arranged in date order to allow easy
access to the latest updates. If you are looking for a particular update
please use the page contents located to the left, it is arranged in
alphabetical order which allows updates to be found easily.
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Job Success
I have had success in obtaining a job working on a
Saturday every week. I wasn't too hopeful for various reasons, but
was quite surprised to receive a phone call some days later after
attending an interview. I am extremely pleased to be working for
such a friendly company and for almost the exact times was
looking for. The management thee seem to be really friendly, I
cannot wait to start next week.
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Jobs and Application Forms
When filling in application forms for jobs it makes
me wonder what would happen if I indicated that I did have a
disability. It makes me think if I get the job whether they would
have given it to me if they knew I had nystagmus from the beginning.
In my opinion it should not make much of a difference, but i am
certain that some employers out there would discriminate against it.
I simply want people to take me for what I am and not something I am
not. If an application form asks if you consider that you have a
disability I always say no; I believe that if it is not going to
affect my conduct at that job it is not a disability.
What do you think?
Email me with your thoughts on the matter.
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More Exams
I have another week of mock exams in two weeks. I have
been speaking to the examinations officer at school and I am going to
be sitting these exams with one or two other people to allow the use
of the extra time. I am not fully aware of the regulations for public
exams but it appears that those with such disabilities are permitted
extra time.
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Copyright Laws Change
At last - New Copyright laws came into force on the 31st
October 2003. The visually impaired are now able by law to create more
accessible copies of materials that are lawfully owned. To view to full
act click on the link below.
Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002
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Music Exams
Next weekend I am taking a grade five tenor saxophone
exam. I have had my music enlarged on to A3 which should help me with
reading it. I am going to tell the examiner before my exam that I have
Nystagmus and that I may need some extra time to look at music when
sight reading. I have not taken an exam on the saxophone before so I
am not quite sure what is going to happen but I have a vague idea. This
will be one of the first times that I have played my saxophone with
a piano accompaniment, hopefully this will help me while playing as
I should be aware of where I am if I loose my place in the music.
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Polite Query about Nystagmus after Noticing It
I met someone who was a year younger than me during the week at school,
he had noticed that me eyes moved from side to side unusually and asked
me politely about it. I was fairly amazed because he was not rude, nasty
or mean, but instead he listened to my short explanation and said that
he was glad he didn't have Nystagmus, then he walked off.
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Extra Time for Exams
I am taking modular triple science at school, I have
taken the first set of modules and I will be tested on the second set
this coming week. Again I will have extra time available but I am fairly
confident that I will not need it, but it is nice to know that it is
there. During the mock exams I took before half term I did not have
extra time for all of the exams. This tended to make me feel a bit nervous
about them and because of this my eyes seemed to start moving faster
which made it harder for me to complete the exams in the time given,
however when I have the extra time I do not appear to need it, but if
I do not have it available I do seem to need it!
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Sport is for Everyone
I had a coaching session for squash this week which made
me feel very proud. I did quite well in the various activities - in
one you had to try and make the ball hit a target as many times as you
could in a fixed period of time. I did well at this and even managed
to get the most hits in one of them than any of the other people who
were there. Some people are amazed that I can play squash and I think
it just goes to show that if you try hard and practise you will get
better at it. I tend to think that I use my ears quite a lot when I
play and I seem to be good at judging where the ball is going to be
so I can have a better chance a hitting it. I also tend to be quite
sneaky with my shots to try and catch out my opponents.
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Work Experience - Looking Back
I enjoyed my work experience placement and I had very
few difficulties arise due to nystagmus. I did however have trouble
using the computers when I was there because the monitors were a fair
distance away from the edge of the desk. However on the second day when
I was in the drawing office I was given a computer to use that had a
very large monitor; I think they might have noticed that I struggled
to see the small monitor the day before. I also had a few difficulties
with a few things on the practical side. But none of these small things
had a big bearing on my week.
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Work Experience - Before
I am going on work experience this coming week to a local
engineering firm where I will hopefully experience the practical side
and the designing side of the engineering. I think that I would most
probably be suited to the designing side and using CAD because I have
always seemed to enjoy designing things and because I am confident with
using CAD already. I am really looking forward to the week I have decided
not to tell them about my eye condition which will prove interesting.
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Fishing
I am preparing for a fishing holiday which I will be
going on next week so I doubt I will have an opportunity to add an update
for that week. If you wish to find out more about the difficulties that
I experience when I go fishing
Click Here. I am going carp
fishing and I am looking forward to fishing on the surface with dog
biscuits. I shall fish fairly long range so I am planning on taking
a pair of binoculars as this will make it easier for me to observe the
surface controller and the bait floating on the surface. I will also
ledger fish because I find it easier as I can rely on bite alarms.
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Mock Exams
I am in year 10 at the moment and I have a series of
mock exams coming up in May. I will probably get extra time for these
mock exams, which means that at least one of the exams, I will probably
still be doing when most other pupils have gone home as I will have
two hour and a half hours to complete it. We only have two hours of
lessons in the afternoon!
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Explaining to Teachers
I have a new trainee teacher for Chemistry for my next
10 or so lessons, so I had to make known to her about my eyes. She did
not realise it after I had produced my pupil card that she was writing
quite small. I think it was more my fault because I had forgotten to
mention this originally but when I mentioned it and asked if she could
write a bit bigger in future she was fine about it; she even went back
and rubbed out what she had written and rewrote it bigger so I could
read the original writing from the board.
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