“I really struggled to accept what was happening to me before I was a Berkshire Vision member, they have helped me massively.”
Dayzie is 13 and started to lose her sight when she was 8. She has a condition called FND (Functional neurological disorder, a medical condition in which there is a problem with the functioning of the nervous system and how the brain and body sends and/or receives signals.)
Her sight problems started with her left eye, the loss of sight in this eye was rapid and she was soon left with no vision in her left eye at all. She was managing well with using just her right eye, but when she was 11 the sight started to go in this eye too, and by the time she was 12 (August 2021) she had no vision at all.
Dayzie has struggled with her sight loss and has lost many friendships, her confidence, independence. Having no sight has been a massive challenge for her as she was struggling in school and could no longer take part in many activities her peers were doing.
But, with the help of Berkshire Vision, she is learning ways to adapt and cope.
Dayzie is joining in on our teens programme of activities and now she has friends that are other teen members of Berkshire Vision. She attends family events, teen socials and is trying things she wouldn’t be able to do without Berkshire Vision’s support.
“I really struggled to accept what was happening to me before I was a Berkshire Vision member, they have helped me massively. I’ve learnt that people will socialise and be friendly towards me and I now have a group of friends that have similar struggles to me. Berkshire Vision have also given me the confidence to with self-advocate without being worried of getting told off. “
Dayzie is also building her confidence in school with the help of her QTVI (Qualified Teacher for the Visually Impaired). She is learning braille, and using assistive technology, is writing articles for the Berkshire Vision website, social media and magazine about her experiences of sight loss.
The day we caught the train
Global Accessibility Awareness Day