taken from
http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/
groups/public/documents/PublicWebsite/public_parentypstoriesra.hcsp
Summary: Rachael Anne tells her story of
growing up with a sight problem and the challenges she faced.
I started life in a small town called Rotherham in South
Yorkshire. Back in the late 1980s, there was very little support
for disabled parents and their children, especially in that sort of
town. My father was between jobs and my mother had four children to
look after, however, that didn't stop her; nothing could ever get
in her way!
I was diagnosed with bilateral congenital cataracts at an early age. The
condition runs in my family and I am part of the third generation
to have it.
I am the second youngest of four children in my family. My
mother and two brothers have this condition, but my older sister
didn't develop an eye condition and is fully sighted.
When I was 3 years old I attended Newman Specialist school,
which children with all kinds of disabilities attended. My parents
were keen for me to enrol in a specialist school full time. They
fought and won a two year battle to get me a place at Tapton Mount
School in Sheffield.
While my two brothers attended the local mainstream school in
Rotherham, I attended Tapton Mount. The journey took one and a half
hours, and I would travel to and from school every day until I was
in my second year.
Tapton Mount was a residential school and many of the students
stayed overnight during the week. Although I stayed for only two
nights a week, I found it hard to adapt to being away from my
parents for the first time - as any six year old would. After all,
they had set the home routine and this was what I was used to.
However, my first night at school was one I would never forget:
it was tipping it down outside, and the faulty fire alarm kept us
going all night and right through to the next day - such fun and
excitement!
I remember very fondly the Nativity plays we would put on every
Christmas. The first year I was there, I had the roll of the Angel
Gabriel. I enjoyed this tremendously; however my opening solo would
never be forgotten, as my dad would remind me of it in later years
to embarrass me.
Every Christmas, my parents would come to see the nativity play
and for the raffle afterwards. My mum would crochet a blanket and
donate this as a prize. I remember the Christmas she decided to
venture into making scarves; the one she made me wouldn't stop
growing. I think it is around 3 metres but it keeps me warm in the
winter all the same.
When Tapton Mount was forced to close, due to lack of funding,
many of my friends moved to other residential schools, and the nine
remaining students at Tapton Mount moved to Hallam, the local
primary school.
We had been attending this school for one day a week the year
before, and I had already made friends. I found that being in a
mainstream school was totally different to a specialist school; I
didn't feel so intimidated, and in fact almost felt normal.
It was at Hallam that I started venturing a little deeper into
my musical talents. I joined the school choir and started having
flute lessons. What a joyful Christmas it was when I received my
first flute!
In 1996 we moved to Hampshire as my parents wanted to train to
be rehabilitation officers.
Having spent a year teaching my friends how I worked differently
to them, I was confident that I could do this again. I had some
members of my class helping me to copy things from the whiteboard
and reading handwriting and small print. I carried on singing in
the school choir and managed to learn everything by ear.
One thing that I'd always struggled with was handwriting; I
dreaded my teachers reading my written work because my handwriting
was so poor. Thankfully, the school had a special needs centre
where I learned new writing techniques and touch typing. I now have
clearer handwriting, though there is still room for improvement,
and a touch typing speed of 70 words per minute.
The reward for not missing a day of school was the day my
teacher, Mrs Cope, sent a letter to my parents to tell them that I
would be receiving an Endeavour award at the end of year assembly.
It was such a motivating day for me to leave primary school that
day knowing I was the only person in our class chosen for this
special award.
In September of 1997, I moved up in the big world and started
secondary school. This was only for three months as we were moving
up to Yorkshire again. But in that short time I was able forge a
friendship with a girl two years older than me.
Claire was the most immature 14-year-old I had ever come across
and she was always getting me into trouble. It was the most trouble
I'd ever been in and I can honestly say it felt good to rebel. I
look back on this now and think it was maybe the worst thing I ever
did.
I can only describe my moving experiences as difficult. I don't
have the best packing abilities and my reluctance to move again was
quite immense.
When we moved back up to Yorkshire, I enrolled at my new school
in Huddersfield, known then as Moor End High School. The building
seemed to go on for ever. I remember having a lot of issues with
getting lost and trying to find the right classroom. Having a full
class of students laugh at you for turning up to the wrong place
isn't exactly motivating, but that problem soon subsided as I
started to make friends.
As far as my sight was concerned, it stayed more or less the
same throughout all my school life. I had enough sight to do most
normal things. I was still bullied but I never used to let it get
to me.
When we moved up to Huddersfield, my mum had just got her first
Guide Dog. This gave me a new prospect of independence.
I saw my mum venture into new territories, especially as she had
to travel to Leeds and back every day by herself. That gave me
motivation to try and be a little more independent myself; doing my
own washing and ironing, cleaning and being a little more
organised. Well, that lasted the whole of a week, as you can
imagine of a 12 year old!
I carried on at Moor End and finished with 2 GCSEs at C and
above, grade 2 in flute and a GNVQ in ICT.
I had also started to learn how to play the clarinet and taught
myself how to play the violin. I added these talents to the ones I
already had and decided that I was a miniature walking
orchestra!
I carried on my education at RNC, Hereford, which is a
residential college for visually impaired students. Being away from
home full time was exciting for me as I wanted to learn how to be
independent and learn things for myself.
I truly enjoyed living and learning for the first time. I did
find it hard living away from home, however I was always in touch
with my parents and they supported me the whole way. I walked away
with a BTEC first Diploma and BTEC National in Performing Arts,
both distinctions, plus another GCSE at grade C.
Unfortunately, two months into my course at RNC, I lost a
substantial amount of sight, leaving me with tunnel vision in one
eye and no sight in the other.
I was worried at first at how this would affect my level of
learning, mobility and living skills, however, with the help of a
good rehabilitation officer and a few injuries I managed to find a
way of doing everything for myself.
After college, I moved up to Edinburgh to live with my then
fiancé. This was a great experience for me; managing finances,
keeping up with the cleaning and making sure we were generally OK
was tough but I loved every bit of independence I was given.
In the end, we split up, and I moved back down to Birmingham to
live with my parents again. I had a few job interviews and accepted
a job at RNIB.
After only three weeks on the job, I was away as a volunteer on
a Vacation Scheme. I'd thrown myself into the deep end and was
swimming confidently. My line manager, Rachel, was so proud of the
things I'd done on the scheme. We work closely together and are
very good friends.
So here I am a year after finishing college. I am working as a
trainee FSO. I love my job. It has given me the confidence and
motivation to want to do things I've never done before and do them
to the end. I'm studying one day a week at Matthew Bolton College,
doing a City & Guilds award in Preparing to Teach.
I think that even when life is tough, anything is possible and
you should never give up. After all, I didn't - and it's paid
off.