Disability

I am blind and autistic.

When I was 11 years old, people realized that I had retinitis pigmentosa and registered me as partially sighted. My mum noticed problems when I was much younger, but the medical professionals did not notice what was wrong.

My sight deteriorated slowly, so I had time to learn new skills and adjust to doing things differently. My mum suggested that I learn braille. My social worker, Margaret Nightingale, arranged for us to borrow the "Spot the dot" course. My mum and I learned braille at home from this series of books. I enjoyed learning braille.

Barbara Reinson was a teacher at Castledown School. I am very grateful that she suggested that I learn to touch type. She taught me in a class with some fifth formers. This skill has been very useful . I touch type almost every day.

I am grateful that the educational psychologist, Sheila Bocking, suggested that I might benefit from education in a specialist school. I moved to a specialist school when I was 13 years old. I did not realize how much I was struggling in my mainstream school until I moved to the specialist school.

Learning without blackboards, whiteboards, or overhead projectors helped me a lot. Although I could still read these if I sat at the front of the class in my mainstream school, I was still at a disadvantage compared with my classmates. Moving to an environment that relied less on visual techniques was really good for me.

Learning in smaller classes also helped me. It was easier for me to ask questions. I tended to have a lot of questions.

Meeting so many blind and partially sighted people helped me as my sight deteriorated. People registered me as blind when I was 23 years old.

People did not diagnose me as autistic until I was 42 years old. This diagnosis did not surprise the people who know me.