I was born with a condition called Coloboma. This means that there is a gap in one or more structures of the eye; they didn't complete development in the womb. For me, the coloboma affects the retina in both eyes, and the optic nerve in my right eye. So, what does this mean for my vision? Well, my vision acuity in my left eye (my good eye) is 20/200, and that's with correction. Normal vision is 20/20, so what someone with normal vision sees at 200 feet is how it looks to me at 20 feet. To better describe it, it's kind of like a video camera that can focus well on things close up. For me, everything farther than about 1 to 2 feet starts to lose detail and gets worse the farther away it is. So, looking at my calendar about 10 feet away from me, I would be able to tell the colors, the shapes, and maybe even that it's a calendar, but I couldn't read the month name or even tell that there were numbers on it. My right eye, however, has such little vision that it is not even bothered to correct. When I cover my left eye, I pretty much see only light, and some shape and color out of my right eye. There is no strong evidence of a genetic link for coloboma. And since no one else in my family has this condition, it is very unlikely that the condition will show up in my children. .
I also have a secondary condition that sometimes just pretty much comes along with having a severe visual impairment called nystagmus. This is where my eyes rapidly move back and forth in order to try to focus better. It's not actually an eye function, but a brain function. So I don't have much control over it unless I really concentrate on making them slow or stop. Usually, my nystagmus is not even very noticable, but after my eyes have been under a large amount of strain, it gets worse.
So basically, I can do pretty much anything that a normally sighted person can do. With the exception of getting a driver's license, and things like brain surgery. : ) I have things that I use to aid me in every day life, such as a CCTV that sits on my desk to read small print on bills, in books, labels, etc. I also have some pretty high-power reading glasses to take with me places like restaurants if the menu is hard to read. Then I have my monocular to see distances, like a street sign across the street when I'm out walking, or to see something on the board/overhead/powerpoint in classes. I can read regular print for a while if the lighting is good, but large print is easier.
I'm not much of a sports person, but I do use my vision well enough to do many other things like playing/working on the computer, going to movies, bowling, playing miniature golf, even driving those go-carts around the track!
In fact, I don't even consider it an impairment. Ultimately, it will not stop me from doing the things that I want to do in life. To me, it's just another part of ME. I just see the world a little differently than a lot of people, but in some ways, don't we all?? : )
